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Gardening and farming in rural north Idaho has many joys and some challenges-- Zone 4 climate, plant predators/ visitors up to and including moose; sudden weather extremes (we get maritime weather off the Pacific and continental weather down from Alberta & BC). Specializing in herbs and fragrant plants led first to a keen interest in cooking with herbs, and then to soapmaking. Any one day's work might see fence fixing, pruning, soapmaking, gathering botanicals, oohing at the elk herd parading past.

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May 4, 2016

The Rosa primula has popped, it being so warm; the past few days have been a fragrant wonder, with the sweet dianthus-scent of these yellow flowers wafting in the open windows and greeting me when I go outside, and melding with the aroma of the Sweet Briar around the corner.

Over by the greenhouse, the lilacs are starting to open, and on the way to town today the huge lilac hedge about halfway to town announced itself about a hundred yards off.

My violets have blown, with the sudden heat, but the peonies look like they will make nicely, and unless it cools off a lot with this coming rainstorm, they will probably be open by the weekend.

2
comments:

How weird it is that plants not that many miles away from each other act so different. My lilacs are going well, only one rose is blooming, the amsonia that normally blooms midsummer is in full bloom, and the peonies are barely making buds!

Well, I am by the "open refrigerator door" of Black Mountain :P .. but also it is just a weird spring, isn't it? Plus the Rosa primula is the earliest rose to bloom.. and my Peonies are species ones, and these two rush things anyway. I looked this morning at my calendar and both are a week earlier than last year.

I saw an Itoh hybrid yellow/buff/dusty rose peony this week, and wish now I had gotten it; it would be magnificent with the Incense rose. Maybe it will still be there when I go back? Nah, Mother's Day, it's probably gone.